M.S.S. v. BELGIUM AND GREECE JUDGMENT 4 FACTS I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE A. Entry into the European Union 9. The applicant left Kabul early in 2008 and, travelling via Iran and Turkey, entered the European Union through Greece, where his fingerprints were taken on 7 December 2008 in Mytilene. 10. He was detained for a week and, when released, was issued with an order to leave the country. He did not apply for asylum in Greece. B. Asylum procedure and expulsion procedure in Belgium 11. On 10 February 2009, after transiting through France, the applicant arrived in Belgium, where he presented himself to the Aliens Office with no identity documents and applied for asylum. 12. The examination and comparison of the applicant’s fingerprints generated a Eurodac “hit” report on 10 February 2009 revealing that the applicant had been registered in Greece. 13. The applicant was placed initially in the Lanaken open reception centre for asylum-seekers. 14. On 18 March 2009, by virtue of Article 10 § 1 of Council Regulation No. 343/2003/EC (“the Dublin Regulation”; see paragraphs 6582 below), the Aliens Office submitted a request for the Greek authorities to take charge of the asylum application. When the Greek authorities failed to respond within the two-month period provided for in Article 18 § 1 of the Regulation, the Aliens Office considered this to be a tacit acceptance of the request to take charge of the application, pursuant to paragraph 7 of that provision. 15. During his interview under the Dublin Regulation on 18 March 2009, the applicant told the Aliens Office that he had fled Afghanistan with the help of a smuggler to whom he had paid 12,000 United States dollars and who had taken his identity papers. He said that he had chosen Belgium after meeting some Belgian NATO soldiers who had seemed very friendly. He also requested that the Belgian authorities examine his fears. He told them that he had a sister in the Netherlands with whom he had lost contact. He also mentioned that he had had hepatitis B and had been treated for eight months. 16. On 2 April 2009 the UNHCR sent a letter to the Belgian Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy criticising the deficiencies in the asylum